NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley ( MS ) pledged $20 million over five years to its children's mental health initiative, bringing its commitment to $50 million since it began in 2020, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children's Mental Health funds nonprofit groups that carry out research and programs focused on youth mental health.

As part of the new pledge, the bank will finance an education center run by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, focused on children in marginalized U.S. communities.

"Morgan Stanley's ( MS ) focus on children's health is a core part of the firm's commitment to give back," said Ted Pick, Morgan Stanley's ( MS ) CEO and chair of the group's advisory board. The pledge is one of the firm's first major charitable commitments since Pick took the helm in January.